Monthly Archives: November 2010

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New Church Construction

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We have outgrown our temporary meeting place, which was a converted tractor shed. We poured the cement slab for our new building and now are waiting for the steel columns and roof.

This has not been completely paid for yet. We are believing God to supply the rest of the budget. We can draw from our monthly operating funds in an emergency, but they are also low as we are near the end of the year.

We have not built too many big churches in new regions yet. We are learning how to do this best. We think as the mission is building the floor and the roof, we will now challenge the church to build the walls. The church gladly pitches in for work bees, and we sense they feel ownership. Still, we want them believing God with us for their building, and we believe this church family will eventually go out and help other many other new church families get their buildings under way.

Thanks also to the leaders who came from Altamira to help with the Encontro week-end. Their one free day was the day it worked out for us to pour cement! The power trowel broke right in the middle of the job, causing us to scramble. At the end of the day it all looked pretty good. While we were getting the power trowel repaired at the steel shop I found out the operator and his wife attend an evangelical church regularly but they have never invited Jesus into their hearts. They are not Christians, but they like the church. His father-in-law, who owns the power trowel and is an engineer who has helped us a lot in our construction projects, is a spiritist, as was his mother before him. He is one of the most helpful people I have met. So we had a good talk.

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Encontro Week-end Stories

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We just had a great “Encounter” week-end. I plan to post some video testimonies when I get a chance to edit our footage. Sixteen leaders came from Altamira! What a blessing they were!
Please keep praying. The Encounter week-end is like a mountain-top experience for many people. One fellow told me he was able to nap in the afternoon, something he had not done in years, for fear of being shot. “This week-end has  been the best week-end of my whole life.” His brother is in the hospital right now hovering between life and death from gunshot wounds. The day before yesterday he did not recognize anyone. Yesterday I heard he was a little better. His brother was preparing to come to the Encounter week-end before he was gunned down by a guy on a motorbike, just a few houses down from us.
Another young man came to Ivanildo for council while we were working in my office. “I feel so strange now when I am among by old friends. Really uncomfortable. What is going on?” Ivanildo gave him some wise council, “This is normal. You now know the difference between right and wrong. The old jokes and ways are not attractive any more. Keep crying out to God and pressing in to Him.”
One of the week-end experiences that touched me the most last week-end was not even directly related. I was in the photography store, getting 100 copies of the pictures (posted below) so we could give each participant one. The small talk at the desk got around to me being a pastor. I noticed this lady in a black dress sitting on a chair when she spoke up. “I don’t believe in God anymore. I don’t believe in anything. There is just this life, and nothing more. God does not protect people or have anything to do with anything.” She was holding a copy of the daily newspaper. “I used to be a charismatic Catholic. Here is why I no long believe in God. I still give to the church, and to help people. But I do not believe God cares or protects people. There is just nature, and this world, and nothing else.” She showed me a page long write up which included a color photo of a beautiful girl about 24 years old. 
John Lennon, the store owner and I stood and listened as she told us her story. Her daughter’s killers had just been convicted. The schoolteacher lady had two daughters. One moved to the US because someone paid a lot of money to help her get there. Once there she was told she needed to enter into prostitution to pay off her debt. She refused. The lady who had helped her said that if she refused they would kill someone in her family. They picked her younger sister. All the photos were in the Saturday paper, the ringleader lady, the two hired killers and the daughter.
After a long time I told her, “God loves you much more than you know. We live in a broken world. Not everything that happens is God’s will, because He has given us freedom to choose. And we still have Satan to contend with. God is very sorry about your heartache.”
“You are right about one thing. It was not God’s will that my daughter was murdered. People have told me it was God’s will, that God is in control of everything.”
There was such an air of heavy sadness over the lady. I invited her to our church. She lives in a nearby town. But she seemed interested. She asked for our address. May God continue to minister to her, to all those who participated in the Encounter week-end, and to all those who helped.
Thanks again for your prayers.
Rick.

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Encontro Weekend!

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We had a great week-end! Thank you to everyone who prayed, and please keep praying. Several of the fellows who really felt God now feel “different” among their old friends. Uncomfortable. “What is going on?” They are off the mountain top and back in the real world. May God continue to protect each one.

We are so grateful to 16 leaders who came over from Altamira. It was a big sacrifice for each one, that they gladly gave. What a huge blessing for us here.

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